A HEARTBROKEN Sandbach man, duped into believing another man’s child was his own, says he’ll ‘never recover’ from the grief of ‘my angel’s’ murder.

His heart-rending words came after his scheming estranged wife was jailed for life for smothering the child to death with a soft toy.

Miles Kennerley, of Deans Lane, Elworth, was at Manchester Crown Court on Friday as a jury found Helen Caudwell, 42, of Cheadle Heath guilty of smothering Bethany ‘Boo’ Caudwell-Kennerley before trying to kill herself on October 2, 2009.

Caudwell was given a ‘life’ sentence and will serve a minimum of eight years in prison.

Jurors rejected her plea of diminished responsibility, despite a psychiatrist testifying she was suffering from an ‘abnormality of the mind’.

At the time of Bethany’s death, Caudwell was locked in an access battle over Bethany with Mr Kennerley – just five months after they had got married.

They met in 2005 when Caudwell already had three children by her first husband Ian Caudwell. She was desperate for another child but Mr Caudwell had undergone a vasectomy.

She started two affairs – with Kennerley and a Mark Davies – with the sole intention of getting pregnant. When she conceived in 2005, she told both men they were the father.

Each believed he was Bethany’s dad until her death and neither of the men knew of the other’s existence. A DNA test after Bethany’s death revealed Mr Davies was the real father.

Continued on page 3

From Page 1

In a statement following the verdict, Mr Kennerley said: “Not only have I had to deal with the anguish of Bethany’s death, but I have also had to come to terms with finding out that she was not biologically my daughter.

“This fact made absolutely no difference whatsoever to my feelings for Bethany.

“Not a day goes by when I don’t think about Bethany and our experiences and life together.

“Bethany was the kind of little girl who made everyone smile when she walked into a room. She was such a bundle of fun who could melt anyone’s heart.

“I brought Bethany up as my daughter for three years and three months. She used to call me dad. She was my angel.

“Her last words to me were said at school. She shouted out: “That’s my daddy!” She came across and gave me a big hug. My family and I have been emotionally crushed.”